Lauren & Steven in Charleston, SC

On a sunny April day at a Charleston, SC, plantation, graduate student Lauren, 27, married her firefighter sweetheart, Steven, 28. The English garden-themed celebration, awash in tones of green, was exactly as Lauren says she'd envisioned it: "fresh, springlike, ethereal—like a dream."

The groom posed in full firefighter turnout gear. (His tux was underneath.) "Steven came up with the idea for that awesome shot," says the bride.